Offshore gas in Mozambique could help the East African country to move forward economically. (Image Source: Andrew Moir/Flickr)ENI's Coral South project, the first offshore gas development for Mozambique, made further progress this week with the awarding of a contract for umbilicals and associated equipment to Aker Solutions

Three steel tube umbilicals, to be delivered by Aker Solutions, will connect the Coral South FLNG facility to the field's subsea production system. These umbilicals will be more than 19km in length.

Manufactured at Aker Solutions' plant in Moss, Norway, delivery of the umbilicals and associated equipment is expected to take place at the end of 2019. The financial value of the contract has not been disclosed by the parties.

Gas was discovered in the Coral Sea development area in 2012 and the field is estimated to contain around 450bcm of natural gas.